With the advent of high speed container filling machines, such as those used in the filling of coffee creamer containers, condiment containers, small serving deserts, fruit cups and yogurt containers, it has become desirable for each operation of the filling machine to be simplified to allow the operator sufficient time to observe the performance of the machine. One of the functions that the operator must monitor is the container supply system and, as this supply becomes low, new containers must be added. As the output capacity of these machines continues to increase, the time required to maintain a supply of containers in the chutes increases and, therefore, the method of loading the containers into the chutes should be simplified where possible. As the size of the contaienrs increases, the rigidity of the stack similarly increases, and facilitates improved handling of the containers.
The simplest and most common method of loading containers into chutes on automatic filling machines is by top entry into a stationary chute which requires the entire stack to be raised to the upper part of the chute and placed in the opening for slid insertion within the chute enclosure. Although this system is satisfactory for many applications, it can prove difficult in that the operator must reach to the upper portion of the chute, maintaining control over the stack of containers and, therefore, the size of the chute is certainly limited.
To overcome this problem, various arrangements have been used which allow the stack of containers to be positioned horizontally and subsequently moved to the vertical position within chutes. One such structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,180, in which individual rows of containers are placed one by one into a hopper provided on an upright conveyor system which conveys individual stacks of containers upwardly to an area which is aligned with tubes which lead to the filling machine chutes. The stacks of containers are pushed through the tubes downwardly into the chutes to provide a supply of containers. This system is particularly suitable for small coffee creamer containers, where the output speed of the machine is high and, therefore, the additional cost is automating the container feed system is justified.
A slightly different approach is taken in our copending Canadian patent application Ser. No. 344,142, filed Jan. 22, 1980 entitled "Automatic Container Feed for Container Handling Device", in which stacks of containers are placed on a horizotal conveyor bed and moved to align with supply chutes of the automatic filling machine for advancement through a sidewall opening in the container chute and subsequently dropped within the supply chute for dispensing. Again, this automatic approach is particularly suited to high speed filling machines in which the output rate is sufficiently high to justify this mechanized approach.
Another prior art structure for use with small creamer containers utilizes a hinged horizontal platform on which stacks of containers are placed, with this platform being moved upwardly to cooperate with other support members which, in combination with the hinged member, define the chutes for the machine.
The present invention provides a simple mechanical apparatus which facilitates load of containers into chutes of an automatic filling machine.